House committee sends CWIP bill to full House

By a vote of 12-1, the House Committee on Utilities has approved HB 554 – legislation that would change Missouri’s Construction Work in Progress (CWIP) law to allow utilities to charge ratepayers for the costs of constructing buildings that are still being built. The bill now moves to the full House.

Those voting to move the legislation to the full House acknowledge the bill, in its current form, stands little chance of becoming law. It is understood the legislation faces a tough struggle in the Senate, where it has yet to be moved out of committee.

AmerenUE – the state’s largest electric utility – has been lobbying for a change to the CWIP law in the company’s bid to build a second nuclear power plant in Callaway County in Mid-Missouri.